SPEECH ACTS; A CRITICAL REVIEW
M.N. Hidayad
Language is a system of communication, a medium for thought,
a vehicle for literary expression, a social institution, a matter for political
controversy, a catalyst for nation building (O’ Grady, 1997). Language seems to
have as many different functions as there are occasions for using language, but
for all the apparent diversity the basic uses of language are rather limited. Therefore,
this chapter will discuss about the form of sentences and the purpose of
utterances, analysis of speech acts, and seven different kinds of utterances or
speech acts. The basic premise of speech act theory is that language
is a means by which we not only convey information but also perform things for
our own benefit (Austin 1962; Searle 1969 in Songthama Intachakra 2004).
The form of Sentences and
the Purpose of Utterances
Sentences are traditionally designated declarative if they
tell something, interrogative if they ask, or imperative if they ask questions,
but this classification is based on the form of sentences. Actual utterances
can have various functions that are independent of form. The form of an
utterance does not necessarily coincide with the speakers’ real intention.
Before exploring the different kinds of purposes that speech acts can have, it
will be useful to have a look at a syntactic classification of sentences.
Syntactically it is common to recognize three types of
sentences in English: statement, commands and questions – or declarative,
imperative and interrogatory sentences. Statements typically have subject,
verb, and then perhaps and object, a complement and/or and adverbial phrase. According
to Phillips (2004), a sentence (in the form of statement) in English must have
at least one subject and one verb.
Here is the example.
a.
The customer paying the clerk for the clothes.
Example “a” is not a correct sentence in the form of
statement since it does not have a verb. The word paying here is not a verb, but it is a participial adjective. The
word paying must be preceded by be (is paying or was paying) or it can be written in the form of simple past (paid).
b.
A window broke.
In contrary to example “a”, although it is short, example “b”
can be categorized as a sentence in the form of statement because it has
subject (a window) and verb (broke).
Affirmative commands begin with the verb, which does not
change; negative command begin with do not plus the verb, for example ‘Close your
book’ or ‘Don’t go away.’
Questions have several different types. First, a question has
the word order of a statement but it is spoken with a rising tune instead of
falling one, for example; “This is a joke?.” If we analyze that sentence from
the point of view of grammar, it can be said that the sentence is incorrect or
ungrammatical. However, if we analyze the sentence from semantics’ point of
view, it can be said that the sentence is correct. In other words, it can be
said that the sentence is semantically correct, but grammatically it is incorrect.
In this kind of question, the speaker wants to ask for confirmation or denial
of what he/she understands. The hearer just answers the questions by saying
‘yes’ or ‘no.’ The marker in that sentence is the intonation.
The next type of question is made with inversion – putting an
operator in first place. Operators can be in the form of be, have, or modal
verbs (can/could, will/would, shall/should, may/might, must, ought, dare, or
need). This type of question is also categorized as ‘yes-no’ question. Here are
the examples.
a.
Is this a joke?
b.
Will you come to my party?
Another type of question is made by attaching a tag question
in a statement, for example ‘This is a joke, isn’t it?’ The next type of
question has inverted word order but it cannot be answered simply “Yes” or
“No.” The marker is the word or. Here
are the examples.
a.
Would you like coffee or tea?
b.
Is your son in the army or Navy?
If the speaker asks the hearer using this type of question,
the hearer cannot simply answer the question by saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’ since this
is not ‘yes-no’ question. He/she must answer it by choosing the alternatives,
for example coffee instead of tea or vice versa.
a.
b.
Where did she leave it?
Those questions ask for a repetition or confirmation of
something said previously.
The last type of question is a question that has a question
word and does not have a rising intonation (at least not on the question word).
This kind of question is to ask for new information, not for repetition or
confirmation.
Here are the examples.
a.
Who presented the material?
b.
How many students came?
Analysis of Speech Acts
The principal use of language is to state facts, to describe
how things are in the world, to present information which, generally, is either
true or false. The English philosopher J.L. Austin pointed out that much of our
ordinary use of language is just as much asking questions and give commands as
making statements, and even utterances that have the form of declarative
sentences are not intended to be statements. Therefore, in making utterances we
have to consider whether they work or not in accomplishing their purpose – in
Austin’s terms, whether they are felicitous or not.
Felicity Conditions are conditions that must be fulfilled and
satisfied by the world if a speech act is to be performed appropriately and
correctly, or felicitously (James R. & Brendan:
1983). A good
way of discovering the felicity conditions of an illocutionary act is to
imagine a situation in which a speaker carries out such an act but something in
the situation makes the act not come off appropriately. Here is the example.
You are sitting in front of the class. Suddenly, there is a
man coming to you and hit you. Then, you say “Thank you” to him. Here, your
utterance, “Thank you”, is not felicitous because the utterance and the
situation are not appropriate. The word “Thank you” is usually said to express
gratitude.
In every speech act we can distinguish three things,
following Austin (1962). What is said, the utterance, can be called the
locution. What the speaker intends to communicate to the addressee is the
illocution. The message that the addressee gets, his interpretations of what
the speaker says, is the perlocution. If
communication is successful, the illocution and the perlocuiton are alike or
nearly alike. Look at the situation below.
Tony and his girlfriend, Ann, are having a candle light
dinner. When they are enjoying the dinner, suddenly Ann says “Can you pass the
salt?” The locution of this utterance is a question or asking ability to pass
the salt. The illocution is a request that Tony passes the salt. The perlocution
is that Tony has to pass the salt to Ann. In this case, if the hearer (Tony)
does not know the illocution meaning, may be he just says ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to Ann
and he does not do anything. Nevertheless, if he understands the illocution
meaning of the utterance “Can you pass the salt?”, he will pass the salt to Ann
instead of saying ‘yes’ or ‘no.’
Such communication is guided by four factors, which Grice
(1975, 1978) called maxims: the maxim of quantity, relevance, manner, and
quality. The maxim of quantity requires the speaker to give as much information
as the addressee needs but not more. The maxim of relevance requires us, as
speakers, to make our utterances relative to the discourse going on and the
contexts in which they occur. The maxim of manner is to be orderly and clear
and to avoid ambiguity. The maxim of quality is to say only what one believes
to be true. Grice distinguished between violating the maxims and flouting them.
If a speaker deliberately lies, expecting the addressee to believe what he/she
says, he/she is violating the maxim of quality. If he/she exaggerates,
expecting the addressee to recognize the exaggeration, he is flouting the
maxim.
An utterance has a purpose. In order to achieve that purpose
– to be appropriate to that purpose – several conditions are necessary: the
lexical content of the utterance must be appropriate, the social situation in
which it occurs must be appropriate, the speaker must be sincere in what he
says, and the hearer(s) accept the utterance as having that purpose.
Seven Kinds of Speech Acts
Assertive utterances
In the assertive function, speakers and writers use language
to tell what they know or believe. Assertive language is concerned with facts.
The purpose is to inform. So, assertive utterances are either true or false. However,
in order to make the assertive utterances felicitous the speaker must commit
himself or herself to the truth of what is reported. For example, “I voted for
Mr. Zul in the last election.” That assertive utterance can be felicitous if in
the last election the speaker really voted for Mr. Zul. On the other hand, that
assertive utterance can be infelicitous if the speaker did not vote for Mr. Zul
in the last election. These are some verbs that are usually used in an
assertive language; announce, declare, disclose, explain, express, indicate,
mention, proclaim, relate, report, etc.
Performative utterances
Speech acts that bring about the state of affairs they name
are called performative: bids, blessings, firings, baptisms, arrests, marrying,
declaring a mistrial. Performative utterances are valid if spoken by someone
whose right to make them accepted and in circumstances which are accepted as
appropriate. The felicity conditions of performative utterances are the
authority of the speakers to make the utterance, the appropriateness of time,
place, and other circumstances. For example, “Michael Arthur, I baptize you in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” That
performative utterance can be felicitous if it is spoken by a priest in a
church and in a formal situation. The verbs that are usually used in
performative utterances are bet, declare, baptize, name, nominate, pronounce.
Verdictive utterances
Verdictives are speech acts in which the speaker makes an
assessment or judgment about the acts of another, usually the addressee. These
include ranking, assessing, appraising, and condoning. Verdictive verbs include
accuse, charge, excuse, thank. Felicity conditions for verdictive utterances
are the possibility of the act the ability of addressee to perform it, the sincerity
of speaker in making the utterance, and the addressee’s belief that the speaker
is sincere.
Expressive utterances
Whereas a verdictive utterance is about what the addressee
has previously done, an expressive utterance springs from the previous actions
– or failure to act – of the speaker, or perhaps the present result of those
actions or failures. Expressive utterances are thus retrospective and speaker –
involved. The most common expressive verbs are acknowledged, admit, confess,
deny, and apologize. Felicity conditions for expressive utterances are the act
was feasible, the speaker was capable of it, the speaker speaks sincerely, and
the addressee belives it.
Directive utterances
Directive utterances are those in which the speaker tries to
get the addressee to perform some act or refrain from performing an act. Felicity
conditions include the feasibility of the act and the ability of addressee. For
example, “Would you make some tea, please?” This
directive utterance can be felicitous if the addressee is not busy and he/she
has ability to do the act (here, the act is in the form of request).
Commissive utterances
Speech acts that commit a speaker to a course of action are called commissive utterances. These include promises, pledges, threats and vows. Commissive verbs are illustrated by agree, ask, offer, refuse, swear. Felicity conditions for commissive utterances are the speaker is capable of the act and intends to perform it; the addressee has faith in the speaker’s ability and intention. For example, “I promise to call you tonight.” This utterance can be felicitous if the speaker is sure that he/she is able to do the act of calling and he/she has intention to do it. Besides, the addressee must believe that the speaker will call him/her tonight.
Phatic utterances
The purpose of these utterances is to establish rapport
between members of the same society. Phatic utterances include greetings,
farewells, and polite formulas such as “Thank you,” “You’re welcome”, “excuse
me.”
Conclusion
Language
is a system of communication to express everything that we have in our mind. In
order to make the communication successful, we have to understand felicity
conditions; locution, illocution, and perlocution; and something which is
called maxim.
There are seven kinds of utterances based on the general
purpose of the speaker. They are assertive utterances, performative utterances,
verdictive utterances, expressive utterances, directive utterances, commissive
utterances, and phatic utterances.
Assertive utterances are utterances which are used in order
to information. The information which is
given can be either true or false. Performative utterances make things happen
just by being uttered. The examples are bets and things in various ceremonies
and official acts which affect the people to whom they are said. Verdictive
utterances are utterances that are used by the speaker in order to make an
assessment or judgment about the acts of the addressee. The examples are
accusing and blaming, congratulating and praising. Expressive utterances are
that are uttered by the speakers in order to tell of their own actions, and
present feelings. Directive utterances essentially involve the speaker trying
to get the hearer to behave in some required way. The examples are advising, forbidding, requesting. Commissive
utterances essentially involve the speaker committing himself to behave in some
required way. They include volunteering, accepting, and undertaking.
Phatic utterances are
utterances which are uttered in order to maintain social bonds. One thing that
we have to remember is that each utterance has felicity conditions. Therefore,
in order to make the communication successful, we have to recognize and understand
the felicity conditions of each utterance.
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